Posts Tagged ‘e.j. biggers’

If you didn’t think the Bucs’ cornerback situation could get any worse, you don’t have enough faith. The Redskins signed away E.J. Biggers, the only cornerback on the team qualified to start that hasn’t been busted for using “Adderall”. I”m going to go ahead and just copy and paste the Bucs’ current cornerback roster because you probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you who was on it.

Gorrer and Johnson have each had their moments and have potential as developmental projects, but neither is a legitimate starter now. I have honestly never heard of James Rogers and think he may just be a name the Bucs made up to fill out the roster. Tandy has made a total of 3 tackles in his NFL career. We already discussed Motorhead. Gaitor is in the same category as Gorrer and Johnson, although he may have a higher ceiling. And Lewis has been given every opportunity and still can’t seem to get on the field even though the three aforementioned non-qualified starters can.

And I know I railed against trading for Darrelle Revis, and I still think it’s a bad idea. But at least it’s an idea. I mean, if the trade goes down, they would have something to work towards and look forward to, right? That deal looked dead a couple days ago, but now it appears to have picked up some steam.

A source “close to the negotiations” between the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers tells King that the Bucs likely would be willing to give their first- and second-round picks in the 2014 NFL Draft for Revis. The Jets are expected to get no less than first- and third-round picks in a possible deal, according to King.

The Bucs want the first round pick to come in 2014 and the Jets want this year’s pick. That’s the hold up. Otherwise, it sounds like the Bucs really want to get this done.

Both King and the New York Daily News indicate that the Bucs are willing to pay Revis big money. They are willing to give up valuable picks. They clearly want Revis. It shouldn’t be that hard to settle on what the picks are before the NFL draft.

So that explains why they haven’t snagged one of the several respectable corners left on the market. But it’s not like they don’t need a couple options. They could get Revis, Nnamdi Asomougha and still select a corner relatively high in the draft and be justified in doing it because you know those older guys are only a one or two year Band-Aid.

If the Bucs don’t do something about the corner situation, I recommend just blitzing 11 on every play. The first couple times they did it, at least it would be fun to watch.

Word came out on Sunday that Eric Wrightpossibly tested positive for Adderall and if so will be suspended once all the formalities are worked out and he stops twitching uncontrollably. I say “possibly” because no one really knows and no one ever will know because that’s the rules of the PED policy. For now, he was seen riding a stationary bike on the practice field on Monday, which means he hasn’t been suspended yet. And Greg Schiano hasn’t been a book of knowledge on the subject either.

“I really can’t discuss it and neither can Eric,” Schiano said at the start of his news conference Monday. “I’m not trying to be evasive at all, but that’s what comes down from the league and that’s where I’m going to be.

“You saw he was on the bike. He has an Achilles (injury) coming out of the game that is a little bit of a concern. Didn’t know about it after the game, really didn’t know about it until recently. But I think the injury, he’ll be okay, but I can’t predict.”

Presumably Wright would be allowed to practice if he was healthy even with the suspension looming. Schiano has already said he would welcome back Aqib Talib after his Adderall suspension and that guy’s a mess. Wright, by comparison, doesn’t get all punchy when you do things like look at him funny or drive him places. So it looks like Wright will likely be out on Sunday for one reason or another. And that leaves the starting cornerbacks as E.J. Biggers and Myron Lewis with Leonard Johnson in nickel. Individually, I don’t mind having any of them on the field. But together with no superiorly talented player to lean on, it’s a little spooky. Biggers has flashed hot and cold, most recently cold. Johnson had a nice game last week but is woefully inexperienced. And Lewis has never proven he can be a consistent player. And I was concerned about the secondary before this.

What the fuck is up with Adderall anyway? I understand it’s supposed to allow you to maintain focus and also has some physical benefits, but so do a lot of other drugs on the banned substance list and everyone seems to be staying away from most of those. Its name is written very clearly on page 18, and not in some weird foreign language. But for some reason, guys seem to think they can get away with this particular banned drug. I know for a fact that One Buc has a coffee machine. Use it. Get more sleep at night, wake up earlier and do your cardio before team meetings, whatever. This just seems like the dumbest thing to get in trouble for.

BENN HURT: According to PFT, Arrelious Bennstrained an MCL and is expected to miss four weeks, meaning all of training camp and possibly all of preseason. I’d say run out and grab Dezmon Briscoe again, but the Redskins picked him up on waivers, so I guess he and Tanard Jackson and Raheem Morris can all get together after practice and talk about how the Bucs don’t know what they’re doing by letting them go. Jackson should have plenty of time to chat since he’s on the PUP list.

Anyway, Benn’s role in the offense has been reduced with the arrival of Vincent Jackson, but I imagine he will still be missed. The curse of the second-round continues. Someone wrap Lavonte David in bubble wrap.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik said Friday the trade of beleaguered defensive tackle Brian Price and release of wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe were moves the team had been “planning” for at least a couple weeks and that neither player should have been surprised by the move.

But then he said the least politically correct thing he could say about a player who has been through as much as Price has. And he’s absolutely 100% correct.

“But at some point we have to go out there and win some football games, and part of the plan for us was to be involved in free agency this offseason and go out and find guys like Amobi Okoye and Wallace Gilberry, who can help out, so his was a position that we have focused on, knowing this day could come.”

Dominik didn’t rest on “We’re going in a different direction,” which everyone else would have done. By saying “at some point we have to go out there and win some football games,” he said that despite all of Price’s personal issues, the Buccaneers are not a charity and can’t afford to have someone on the roster who cannot contribute to wins. It seems harsh but it has to be said. I’m glad Dominik said it.

BIGGERS DOWN TOO: Hey look at that. While I was looking for a third story, the Bucs released a statement that E.J. Biggers also suffered a foot injury yesterday, apparently in the same play that injured Benn when they collided.

“It’s part of the game, unfortunately, in no-pads,” said Schiano. “It’s just an unfortunate thing, but we’ve got to keep pressing on. Those two guys will get back. They’re going to keep preparing and working. My philosophy when a guy gets injured is, certainly there are things you can’t do with skill development, but there’s a lot of things you can do. In the weight room, rehab – that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to work at the things you can control.”

Anthony Gaitor and Myron Lewis will likely be filling in while Biggers is down. I had high hopes for Lewis a while ago, but this may be his last real opportunity to shine.

So only a week after the Stephen Holder writes a story about how the Bucs are staying out of trouble, rumored free agent acquisition Eric Wright gets arrested in Los Angeles for felony DUI. I would like to take this moment to ask Mr. Holder to please write a story about strippers not visiting homes in north Atlanta and giving free forth of July lap dances in their garages.

Wright told police he had been drinking at a friend’s house near Hollywood, and refused a Breathalyzer or field sobriety test.

So he refused the tests that would prove that he was drinking and then went ahead and admitted he was drinking. You know who does something like that? A drunk.

The arrest adds another episode to Wright’s rocky start with the Bucs. He missed most of the team’s offseason workouts and minicamps with a non-football related illness.

That non-football related illness was recently revealed to be “hung over”.

This was not the first time Wright has faced legal problems. While attending USC and before transferring to UNLV in 2005, Wright was arrested on suspicion of rape, the Los Angeles Times reported. Though police said they found 136 Ecstasy pills in Wright’s apartment, Los Angeles County prosecutors did not file charges, citing insufficient evidence.

But… isn’t Ecstasy illegal? Was he not prosecuted for having them, or is Wright enough of a celebrity that he falls under LA’s immunity statutes for famous people? (see Lohan, Lindsay)

Charges were recently dropped against Aqib Talib for assault or discharging a firearm or whatever it was, and even though I think he probably did something illegal there (though no one would have blamed him), I jumped the gun that time thinking he was guilty before all the facts came out. But the arresting officer in Wright’s case will have video tape from his cruiser along with eyewitnesses and, you know, Wright’s admission. So this seems a little more cut and dried. Someone freeze E.J. Biggers in carbonate until camp. If something happens to him, the Bucs are going to have to use Roombas in nickel coverage.

FLEXIBLE RECEIVERS: Remember when Jon Gruden made the claim that he couldn’t put Joey Galloway and Antonio Bryant on the field at the same time because they were both X receivers? It was one of the dumbest things I’d ever heard, and I live in Georgia. Apparently Mike Sullivan has no such hang-ups because he is perfectly happy to move receivers around to do whatever he needs to get the best players on the field.

“The great thing about this offense is that everyone can play every position,” P.J. Fleck said. “So when you’re thinking about the X (split end), Z (flanker), and all these different (positions), they all can play every position.

“That’s how we’re going about teaching our system and our scheme. Everyone learns the same fundamentals, and then we go right into the scheme and everyone is learning as a whole. It’s not, ‘Hey, you’re just learning X or you’re just learning Z.’ That gives us the flexibility to move everyone around.”

That just seems normal. I always loved Gruden and thought he was a good coach, but that thing about the receivers was just so bizarrely, hit-yourself-in-the-head-with-a-hammer stupid. And Greg Olson apparently followed it too because last year most receivers didn’t deviate from their spots. It’s going to be a nice change for the other team to not be able to guess the route before the ball is snapped.

PROJECTED STARTERS: The Times published what they feel is the starting lineup heading into training camp. It’s pretty much the same thing I published here a while back, with the exception of Eric Wright as a starting corner even though he has missed a bunch of offseason work so far. E.J. Biggers has stepped up as the starter so far and Wright should have to wrestle the position away from him instead of it being handed to him because of his contract. I think Greg Schiano doesn’t give a shit about how much money they make and will put the producers on the field.

CLICKY SHIRT UPDATE: Anyone who is interested in Bucstats T-shirts, read the update in the forum. We can send a man to the moon, but…

As I’ve said before, I don’t care how much money the Bucs actually spend. It’s none of my business and I’m not going to cry for them if they overspend. But when it comes to cap figures, that’s when it affects their ability to sign new players and be competitive, and then I care. Pat Yasinskas has some interesting numbers involving escalators that various players earned over the last season that will affect the salary cap this season and beyond. According to the article, the escalators haven’t been figured into the $67-million cap number we’ve been hearing.

That will eat into early reports that had the Bucs heading for the start of free agency with around $67 million in cap space.

Even after everything is figured in, the Bucs will still be sitting pretty for free agency, but it’s interesting to see what these guys earned.

Quarterback Josh Freeman kicked in a $5.5 million escalator by meeting certain playing time and statistical requirements in 2010. Freeman now is carrying an $8.545 million cap figure for this season.

$8.5-million for a franchise quarterback is still a deal, but considering Freeman’s output last year, it’s a little scary. But wait, there’s more.

He also already has kicked in a $7 million escalator for 2013 and that number could end up going as high as $9.455 million if he meets more escalators this season.

I’m reading that as $7-million plus whatever his salary is plus the pro-rated portion of his signing bonus. If Freeman has another year like this year, you’d have to think that Mark Dominik will start to talk about a restructure to put that cap number more in line with his production. If Freeman meets certain marks in 2012 that $7-million figure goes up, but of course if he’s performing to that level, we won’t care.

Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy earned a $5.1 million escalator based on his 2010 performance and now is carrying a $9.443 million cap figure for 2012. McCoy also has kicked in $6 million in escalators for 2013 and $7.7 million for 2014.

They’re already talking on shows about the draft how the Bucs need to fortify their defensive tackles because McCoy and Price have been hurt too much. And it’s hard to argue with, although I still think it’s too early to give up on them. But $9.4-million for McCoy is steep considering how much he’s on the field. And what were those marks that kicked in escalators for 2013 and 2014? They couldn’t have been playing time marks since he was hurt. He didn’t have a bunch of sacks. Maybe he got a bonus for the number of OCNN reports he did. McCoy seemed to always be pimping that shit.

Cornerback E.J. Biggers earned an $875,000 escalator with his 2010 performance and is carrying a $1.455 cap figure this year.

Biggers got a ton of playing time and $1.5-million still isn’t too bad, but he just doesn’t seem worth it. Let’s hope the Bucs add some quality at corner both in free agency and in the draft because if Ronde Barber retires and Aqib Talib gets suspended or cut, Biggers will be the best corner on the team. Let that one sink in.

Receiver Sammie Stroughter earned a $435,000 for this year based on his 2010 performance. His cap figure for this season is $1.012 million.

Bye Sammie. Sorry it didn’t work out. There’s no way they keep you for that cap number.

Defensive tackle Roy Miller earned $805,000 in escalators based on his performance in each of the last three seasons and is now carrying a $1.563 million cap figure.

That sounds like a good deal to me. Miller is a solid contributor who provides quality depth. Look at his number and look at McCoy’s. Which one seems more in line with reality?

Huh, that was pretty much the entire content of Yasinskas’s article. So I guess I saved you a trip to ESPN today. Tell your web browser it’s welcome.

Most of the talk today is on Ronde Barber‘s response to the question as to whether he is coming back and if Raheem Morris‘s status as coach has anything to do with it.

“I would be lying if I didn’t say that,” Barber said when asked if his future was linked to Morris’. “That’s somewhat true. But we’ll see. Ideally, I’d love to be back and play with (Morris), and (secondary coach) Jimmy (Lake) and (linebackers coach) Joe Baker. They’re great coaches and they’re fun to be around. They understand me and I understand them. So I imagine that will have something to do with it.”

It’s kind of funny that I’d like the oldest player on the team to stay for his playmaking and not for his veteran leadership. Ronde has missed some tackles this season just like EVERYONE else, but he’s still one of the most solid guys on the team in that department. But as far as leadership goes, he’s never been the guy you’d turn to hear the rallying cry for the team to get its collective ass in gear. Hell, he’s pretty sure the team has given up on Morris.

“… I have lots of good opinions about Rah. He’s a good friend of mine and I want well for him. He deserves a team that plays its (butt) off for him, to be honest with you, guys that care about winning football, because that’s what good coaches have.”

The implication, of course, is that this particular team is not playing its ass off for Morris. He’s right, but I don’t know if that’s what you want to hear from your leader when there is still a game left to play. The frustration has got to be getting to him, but shit, don’t sound like you’ve given up until the final game is over.

Whether he stays or goes, there has got to be an infusion of some talented cornerback blood into the team in the offseason. Aqib Talib may go to jail or get suspended and even if he doesn’t he has a hard time staying healthy, and even if he stays healthy we don’t know if he’ll respond any better to another coach. E.J. Biggers gets burned as often as he makes plays. Myron Lewis hasn’t come on as the big bad cornerback he was supposed to be coming out of Vanderbilt. Basically the team would do just as well with a few lawn and leaf trash cans placed around the field and hoping the quarterback accidentally throws the football into one of them.

A couple months ago, this would have been major news with huge implications for the rest of the season. But with the season over for all practical purposes and the the fact they’re essentially playing foosball out there on the field, it gets shoved to the side for two days and no one notices.

The Bucs have decided cornerback Aqib Talib isn’t fit to finish the season.

Talib, with a hamstring injury that has slowed him in the second half of the season, was placed on injured reserve Monday for the final two games.

E.J. Biggers, normally the nickel back, becomes the starter at left cornerback.

Biggers plays a lot anyway so this doesn’t change much, which in the Bucs’ case is unfortunate. When I was reading that talent gap article yesterday, Biggers was the first player I thought of that made me think he might have a point. There’s got to be a college player out there that both does not like guns and can cover. It seems like a relatively small list of requirements.

To fill his spot, the Bucs signed DT Jovan Haye, who spent time with the team from 2006-2008 and actually led them in sacks one year, which is probably a sadder statement than I originally thought. He was another one of those “work hard” players that found some success through his work ethic. This roster does seem to have a lot of those. That’s good, right? Someone tell me that’s good.

Sitting back and watching Josh Johnson, I don’t think he played any worse than Josh Freeman has been. He scrambled more and took a couple extra shots downfield, which I think is an improvement. But a lot of the time he also looked uncomfortable in the pocket even when the protection was good. The low point had to be the interception he threw when he got the snap early. He’s got enough years behind hi now that he should know better. His highlight is probably the 42-yard pass to Mike Williams, which was perfect. But honestly, it’s kind of a wash.

LeGarrette Blount only got 11 carries on Sunday, but he never touched the ball after 6:21 left in third quarter. At that point the score was 31-12. Three scores down, but with 21 minutes left, I still wouldn’t have quit on the run game. Even when the Panthers were stacking the box, Blount got a couple six-yard runs in there. Mossis Madu looked like an upgrade over Kregg Lumpkin, but I’m not sure why feeding Madu the ball instead of Blount is a good idea. To be fair, Madu did gain more yards than Blount on fewer carries, but I’ve never seen Madu break six tackles on the way to the endzone, either.

And why, right after Blount gets six yards on back to back carries, is that the time to run a reverse on third and 2? That reverse to Arrelious Benn hardly ever works. I don’t know if the formation gives it away or the players aren’t selling it good enough, but it is rarely ever this big breakaway play that they want it to be. A first down would have put them at the Carolina 15. Instead, Benn lost 12 yards on the play and forced a field goal.

Jeremy Trueblood got handled by Charles Johnson. Johnson had a sack, three TFLs and a pass defensed. Bad day at the office for Trueblood. I didn’t notice anything else awful about the offensive line, but I’m not sure if that bad snap was Jeff Faine‘s fault or Josh Johnson’s.

Defensively, Da’Quan Bowers established himself as a real contender to start. Bowers was a machine all day long — 1.5 sacks, 8 tackles, 5 TFLs. With him on one side and Adrian Clayborn on the other, the Bucs may have found a pair of defensive ends to grow with them.

I don’t know what Brian Price did, but every indication is that the decision to send him home was an overreaction by Raheem Morris. If it isn’t bad enough for the officials to eject him from the game, it shouldn’t be bad enough for Raheem to do it. I think Raheem was just waiting for someone to make a stupid mistake and make an example of him. Too bad it was Price because he’s one of the best defensive players they have right now and from everything I’ve ever read or heard from him is a kind-hearted kid. For as many scraps as Aqib Talib has gotten into on the field, for Price to be the one sent home for that kind of infraction is seriously messed up. It’s a power move, and a coach with full control of the locker room doesn’t have to make them in that fashion. If it works, maybe Raheem gets everyone’s attention. But if it doesn’t and he loses control of his team, he’s finished. It’s a huge risk he took doing it.

I’m not sure the team even has linebackers anymore. I see Mason Foster making plays, but he can’t do it by himself. If any group needs to be blown up and started over from scratch, it’s this one. And please, when you do it, move Foster back to WLB where he played in college.

The secondary could have been a lot worse without Talib, but overall it wasn’t terrible. E.J. Biggers gave up a big one to Steve Smith, but I was actually impressed it was only one. Smith only caught two passes all day.

And we all know that Ronde Barber wasn’t supposed to tackle Cam Newton on that option play, right? If Barber had released his man and went after Newton, Newton would have just flipped the ball to the guy Barber just left and he would have been the one to make the big gain. I’ve seen people complain that Barber should have just “made the play”, but he was exactly where he was supposed to be.

What happened to Tanard Jackson? Dude seems to be getting plowed more than I remember.

Connor Barth, Bucstats salutes you for being the most consistent player on the team. Maybe it was you who had the championship hair all along.

That’s about all I can fake my way through right now. Sorry it wasn’t funny or anything. It’s just so hard to care about this game. The good news is that the Jaguars look even shittier. The Chargers hadn’t won since forever and they destroyed the Jags last night. Blaine Gabbert looks awful and no one seems to give a shit in Jacksonville, either. We can call next week’s game the Apathy Bowl, sponsored by Valium!

So, yesterday’s game wasn’t a wretched piece of shit that makes you embarrassed for yourself and your community, and that’s a definite step forward. In fact, it was actually a pretty good game by the Bucs and if they had played it against just about any other team, they probably would have won. But they played the Packers and they’re made of pixie dust this year and Aaron Rodgers is the perfect combination of EVERYTHING so here the Bucs sit at 4-6. At least my Volunteers beat Aaron’s brother, Jordan, who plays for Vanderbilt. But even that was too close for comfort. If the Vols had lost that one, I would have had to add the Rodgers family to my list of families to kill. But first, the Baldwins. Except Alec. I still loves me some 30 Rock.

Josh Freeman calmed down and had a relatively decent day. I’d still like to see him pull the ball down an run a little more when the opportunity is there (like on his interception to Tramon Williams when he had Arrelious Benn in front of him to block), but overall he wasn’t bad. He wasn’t betrayed nearly as much by his wide receivers as he has been in the past either, making for a 78% completion percentage.

Mike Williams looked like his old self. Maybe he called Fred Biletnikoff and bought some of his super-secret invisible Stickum. I didn’t notice any drops, so whatever works. Beautiful touchdown slant, too.

All the other receivers — Benn, Dezmon Briscoe, Preston Parker — came through in clutch situations. I’m guessing Eric Yarber changed the punishment for dropping a pass from carrying a football around in your arms all week to carrying it around in your ass like Christopher Walken did with Butch’s watch. Sometimes you just need the right motivation.

I’d like to point out that Connor Barth is kicking at over 90% right now. I’m not kidding when I say he should be considered for MVP of the team so far.

Hey, LeGarrette Blount had 18 carries and broke a long one for a touchdown. Who’da thunk it? Oh wait, ALL OF US THUNK IT. I don’t care if you give Blount the ball ten times and he gains nothing. There’s a very good chance that on the eleventh one, he’s going for 60 yards. He ran for 107 with a 5.9 YPC average and one of the mod spectacular runs you’ll ever see. That run is up there with the best of Mike Alstott‘s.

Adrian Clayborn and Brian Price were twins yesterday, both getting a nice sack and a tackle for loss. I still can’t help but wonder how dominant Price would be if he were allowed to play 3-technique. Albert Haynesworth is playing it and didn’t have a great game.

Rodgers tested Aqib Talib because he’s been on the skids lately, but Talib really stepped up with three passes defensed.

E.J. Biggers: Still awful. And then Myron Lewis replaced him and he was no better. Is Elbert Mack really their best option as a third corner right now? It may be time to bend the rules of the new regime and pick up a good veteran cornerback in free agency next offseason. Lewis is a third-rounder and isn’t quite panning out.

Raheem Morris chewed Quincy Black a new asshole after he gave up that touchdown. I really hope it gets through to him. Black has all the physical tools to be awesome, but somehow he keeps missing plays. I thought this linebacker corps was going to be the strongest unit in the defense and maybe one of the better ones in the league, but it’s really been disappointing. Yesterday wasn’t terrible and the Packers’ running game was held to under 100 yards, but then again the Packers aren’t really a running team.

Morris’s decision to go for two early in the fourth quarter was fucking stupid and someone needs to tell him. I’m sure it seems real tough and gritty to go for two and it says that you have confidence in your offense, but you can’t leave any points on the table against a team like the Packers. If they had just kicked the PAT, they would have actually been in the game at the end. You only go for two when time dictates no other option. The onside kicks didn’t bother me, although someone needs to work with Michael Koenen on getting the ball ten yards down the field. Successful onside kicks can really flip momentum and steals a possession from a hot offense like Green Bay’s. So yeah, go for them. But take your points where you can.

What a shame about that early punt that never happened. Punters are so well protected by the rules that Jacob Cutrera wasn’t going to just tackle him like he could have. So I don’t blame the Bucs for that one — it was just a freak play. I can’t believe I actually used Cutrera’s name in a write-up.

If the Bucs can keep up this level of play, they can win between 4-6 of their next games. At this point, I’m not seeing playoffs in the future, but I can see them ending the season on a positive note. I just hope that a good ending doesn’t make them forget the shit they went through in the first ten games and that they remember the deficiencies and holes in their team when the offseason kicks in.